Will Congress split NSA from Cyber Command?

Nov. 6, 2013 - 03:45AM
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Army Gen. Keith Alexander, commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, prepares to testify at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in June. (Mark Wilson / Getty Images)

Presently, the director of the National Security Agency is dual-hatted as commanding general of U.S. Cyber Command. Air Force Gen. Keith Alexander currently heads both organizations. With the revelations about NSA spying, would anybody be surprised if Congress split the two jobs and put a civilian in charge of the NSA?

“No formal decision has been made yet, but the Pentagon has already drawn up a list of possible civilian candidates for the next NSA director, a military official told The Hill,” the news site reported. “A separate military officer would head up Cyber Command, a team of military hackers that trains for offensive cyberattacks and protects U.S. computer systems. The administration might also decide to have two military officers lead the two agencies.”

Alexander will step down from his post as director of the National Security Agency next spring. He was named NSA director in 2005 and took on the position as chief of USCYBERCOM in 2010.